REMARKS 

OF 

MR.  WEBSTER 

IN  THE 

SENATE  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

MAY  9,  1828, 

ON  THE  TARIFF  BILL. 


bostoiv  : 

PRESS   OP  THE  BOSTON  DAILY  ADVERTISER. 

W.  L.  Lewis,  Printer. 
1828. 


iEx  IGtbrtB 

SEYMOUR  DURST 

AVERY 

Durst 


REMARKS 


This  subject  is  surrounded  with  embarrass- 
ments, on  all  sides.  Of  itself,  however  wisely  or 
temperately  treated,  it  is  full  of  difficulties  ;  and  these 
difficulties  have  not  been  disminished  by  the  particu- 
lar frame  of  this  Bill,  nor  by  the  manner,  hitherto  pur- 
sued, of  proceeding  with  it.  A  diversity  of  interest 
exists,  or  is  supposed  to  exist,  in  different  parts  of 
the  country.  This  is  one  source  of  difficulty.  Dif- 
ferent opinions  are  entertained  as  to  the  constitutional 
power  of  Congress;  this  is  another.  And  then,  again, 
different  members  of  the  Senate  have  instructions, 
which  they  feel  bound  to  obey,  and  which  clash  with 
one  another.  We  have  this  morning  seen  an  Honora- 
ble Member  from  New  York,  an  important  motion 
being  under  consideration,  lay  his  instructions  on  the 
Table,  and  point  to  them,  as  his  power  of  attorney, 
and  as  containing  the  directions  for  his  vote. 

Those  who  intend  to  oppose  this  Bill,  under  all  cir- 
cumstances, and  in  all  or  any  forms,  care  not  how  ob- 


4 


jectionable  it  now  is,  or  how  bad  it  may  be  made. 
Others,  finding  their  own  leading  objects  satisfactorily 
secured  by  it,  naturally  enough  press  forward,  w  ithout 
staying  to  consider,  deliberately,  how  injuriously  other 
interests  may  be  affected.  All  these  causes  create  em- 
barrassments, and  inspire  just  fears,  that  a  w  ise  and 
useful  result  is  hardly  to  he  expected.  There  seems  a 
strange  disposition  to  run  the  hazard  of  extremes;  and 
to  forget,  that  in  cases  of  this  kind,  measure,  propor- 
tion, and  degree  are  objects  of  inquiry,  and  the  true 
rules  of  judgment.  I  have  not  had  the  slightest  wish 
to  discuss  the  measure  ;  not  believing  that,  in  the  pre- 
sent state  of  things,  any  good  could  be  done  by  me,  in 
that  way.  But  the  frequent  declarations  that  this  was 
altogether  a  New  England  measure,  a  bill  for  m  curing 
a  monopoly  to  the  capitalists  of  the  North,  and  other 
expressions  of  a  similar  nature,  have  induced  me  to 
say  a  few  words. 

New  England,  Sir,  has  not  been  a  leader,  in  this 
policy.  On  the  contrary,  she  held  back,  herself,  and 
tried  to  hold  others  back  from  it,  from  the  adoption  of 
the  Constitution  to  1824.  Up  to  1824,  she  was  ac- 
cused of  sinister  and  selfish  designs,  because  she  dis- 
countenanced the  progress  of  this  policy.  It  was  laid 
to  her  charge,  then,  that  having  established  her  manu- 
factures herself,  she  wished  that  others  should  not 
have  the  power  of  rivalling  her  ;  and,  for  that  reason, 
opposed  all  legislative  encouragement.  Under  this 
angry  denunciation  against  her,  the  act  of  1824  pass- 
ed. Now  the  imputation  is  precisely  of  an  opposite 
character.    The  present  measure  is  pronounced  to  be 


6 


exclusively  for  the  benefit  of  New  England ;  to  be 
brought  forward  by  her  agency,  and  designed  to  gratify 
the  cupidity  of  her  wealthy  establishments. 

Both  charges,  Sir,  are  equally  without  the  slightest 
foundation.  The  opinion  of  New  England,  up  to 
1824,  was  founded  in  the  conviction,  that,  on  the 
whole,  it  was  wisest  and  best,  both  for  herself  and 
others,  that  manufactures  should  make  haste  slowly. 
She  felt  a  reluctance  to  trust  great  interests  on  the 
foundation  of  Government  patronage  ;  for  who  could 
tell  how  long  such  patronage  would  last,  or  with  what 
steadiness,  skill,  or  perseverance  it  would  continue  to 
be  granted  ?  It  is  now  nearly  fifteen  years,  since, 
among  the  first  things  which  I  ever  ventured  to  say 
here,  was  the  expression  of  a  serious  doubt,  whether 
this  Government  was  fitted  by  its  construction,  to  ad- 
minister aid  and  protection  to  particular  pursuits ; 
whether,  having  called  such  pursuits  into  being  by  in- 
dications of  its  favor,  it  would  not,  afterwards  desert 
them,  when  troubles  come  upon  them,  and  leave  them 
to  their  fate.  Whether  this  prediction,  the  result,  cer- 
tainly, of  chance,  and  not  of  sagacity,  will  so  soon  be 
fulfilled,  remains  to  be  seen. 

At  the  same  time  it  is  true,  that  from  the  very  first 
commencement  of  the  Government,  those  who  have 
administered  its  concerns  have  held  a  tone  of  encour- 
agement and  invitation  towards  those  who  should  em- 
bark in  manufactures.  All  the  Presidents,  I  believe, 
without  exception,  have  concurred,  in  this  general  sen- 
timent ;  and  the  very  first  act  of  Congress,  laying  du- 
ties of  import,  adopted  the  then  unusual  expedient  of 


6 


;i  preamble,  apparently  for  little  other  purpose  than 
that  of  declaring,  that  the  duties,  which  it  impos<  <L 
were  imposed  for  the  encouragement  and  protection  of 
manufactures.  When,  at  the  commencement  of  tin; 
late  war,  duties  were  doubled,  we  were  told  that  we 
should  find  a  mitigation  of  the  weight  of  taxation,  in 
tbc  new  aid  and  succour  which  would  be  thus  afforded 
to  our  own  manufacturing  labour.  Like  arguments 
were  urged,  and  prevailed,  but  not  by  the  aid  of  New 
England  votes,  when  the  Tariff  was  afterwards  ar- 
ranged, at  the  close  of  the  war,  in  1816.  Finally, 
after  a  whole  winter's  deliberation,  the  act  of  1824, 
received  the  sanction  of  both  Houses  of  Congress,  and 
settled  the  policy  of  the  country.  What,  then,  was 
New  England  to  do  ?  She  was  fitted  for  manufactur- 
ing operations,  by  the  amount  and  character  of  her 
population,  by  her  capital,  by  the  vigor  and  energy  of 
her  free  labor,  by  the  skill,  economy,  enterprise,  and 
perseverance  of  her  people.  I  repeat,  what  was  she, 
under  these  circumstances,  to  do?  A  great  and  pros- 
perous rival  in  her  near  neighborhood,  threatening  to 
draw  from  her  a  part,  perhaps  a  great  part,  of  her  for- 
eign commerce  :  was  she  to  use,  or  to  neglect,  those 
other  means  of  seeking  her  own  prosperity  which  be- 
longed to  her  character  and  her  condition  ?  Was  she 
to  hold  out,  forever,  against  the  course  of  the  Govern- 
ment, and  see  herself  losing,  on  one  side,  and  yet 
make  no  effort  to  sustain  herself  on  the  other  ?  No, 
Sir.  Nothing  was  left  to  New  England,  after  the  act 
of  1824,  but  to  conform  herself  to  the  will  of  others. 
Nothing  was  left  to  her,  but  to  consider  that  the  Go- 


7 


vernment  had  fixed  and  determined  its  own  policy  ; 
and  that  policy  was  'protection. 

New-England,  poor,  in  some  respects,  in  others,  is 
as  wealthy  as  her  neighbors.    Her  soil  would  be  held 
in  low  estimation,  by  those  who  are  acquainted  with 
the  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  and  some  of  the  mead- 
ows of  the  South.    But  in  industry,  in  habits  of  labor, 
skill,  and  in  accumulated  capital,  the  fruit  of  two  cen- 
turies of  industry,  she  may  be  said  to  be  rich.  After 
this  final  declaration — this  solemn  promulgation  of  the 
policy  of  the  Government,  I  again  ask,  what  was  she 
to  do  ?    Was  she  to  deny  herself  the  use  of  her  advan- 
tages, natural  and  acquired  ?  Was  she  to  content  her- 
self with  useless  regrets  ?    Was  she  longer  to  resist, 
what  she  could  no  longer  prevent  ?   Or,  was  she,  rath- 
er to  adapt  her  acts  to  her  condition ;  and  seeing  the 
policy  of  the  Government  thus  settled  and  fixed,  to  ac- 
commodate to  it,  as  well  as  she  could,  her  own  pur- 
suits, and  her  own  industry  ?    Every  man  will  see 
that  she  had  no  option.    Every  man  will  confess  that 
there  remained  for  her  but  one  course.    She  not  only 
saw  this  herself,  but  had,  all  along,  foreseen  that  if  the 
system  of  protecting  manufactures  should  be  adopted, 
she  must  go  largely  into  them.    I  believe.  Sir,  almost 
every  man  from  New-England  who  voted  against  the 
law  of  1824,  declared,  that  if,  notwithstanding  his  op- 
position to  that  law,  it  should  still  pass,  there  would  be 
no  alternative  but  to  consider  the  course  and  policy  of 
the  Government  as  then  settled  and  fixed,  and  to  act 
accordingly.    The  law  did  pass ;  and  a  vast  increase 
of  investment  in  manufacturing  establishments  was 


8 


the  consequence.  Those  who  made  such  investments, 
probably  entertained  not  the  slightest  doubt  that  as 
much  as  was  promised  would  be  effectually  granted; 
and  that  if,  owing  to  any  unforeseen  occurrence,  or 
untoward  event,  the  benefit  designed  by  the  law,  to  any 
branch  of  manufactures,  should  not  be  realized,  it 
would  furnish  a  fair  case  for  the  consideration  of  Gov- 
ernment. Certainly,  they  could  not  expect,  after  what 
had  passed,  that  interests  of  great  magnitude  would 
be  left  at  the  mercy  of  the  very  first  change  of  circum- 
stances which  might  occur. 

As  a  general  remark,  it  may  be  said,  that  the  inter- 
ests concerned  in  the  act  of  1824,  did  not  complain  of 
their  condition  under  it,  excepting  only  those  connect- 
ed with  the  woollen  manufactures.  These  did  com- 
plain ;  not  so  much  of  the  act  itself,  as  of  a  new  state 
of  circumstances,  unforeseen  when  the  law  passed,  but 
which  had  now  arisen  to  thwart  its  beneficial  opera- 
tions, as  to  them  ;  although  in  one  respect,  perhaps  the 
law  itself  was  thought  to  be  unwisely  framed. 

Three  causes  have  been  generally  stated,  as  having 
produced  the  disappointment  experienced  by  the  man- 
ufacturers of  wool,  under  the  law  of  1324. 

First,  it  is  alleged,  that  the  price  of  the  raw  materi- 
al had  been  raised  too  high,  by  the  act  itself.  This 
point  had  been  discussed  at  the  time,  and  although 
opinions  varied,  the  result,  so  far  as  it  depended  on 
this  part  of  the  case,  though  it  may  be  said  to  have  been 
unexpected,  was  certainly  not  entirely  unforeseen.* 

*  Extract  from  Mr  Webster's  Speech,  on  the  Tariff  ofl824.— "  This  Bill  pro- 
poses, also,  a  very  high  duty  upon  imported  wool;  and  as  far  as  I  can  learn, 
a  majority  of  the  manufacturers  are  at  least  extremely  doubtful  whether,  tak- 
ing these  two  provisions  together,  the  state  of  the  law  is  not  better  for  them 
now  than  it  would  be  if  this  should  pass." 


9 


But,  secondly,  the  manufacturers  imputed  their  dis- 
appointment to  a  reduction  of  the  price  of  wool  in  Eng- 
land, which  took  place  just  about  the  date  of  the  law  of 
1824.  This  reduction  was  produced  by  lowering  the 
duty  on  imported  wool  from  sixpence  sterling  to  one 
penny  sterling  per  pound.  The  effect  of  this  is  obvi- 
ous enough  ;  but  in  order  to  see  the  real  extent  of  the 
reduction,  it  may  be  convenient  to  state  the  matter 
more  particularly. 

The  meaning  of  our  law  was  doubtless  to  give  the 
American  manufacturer  an  advantage  over  his  English 
competitors.  Protection  must  mean  this,  or  it  means 
nothing.  The  English  manufacturer  having  certain 
advantages,  on  his  side,  such  as  the  lower  price  of  labor, 
and  the  lower  interest  of  money,  the  object  of  our  law 
was  to  counteract  these  advantages,  by  creating  others, 
in  behalf  of  the  American  manufacturer.  Therefore, 
to  see  what  was  necessary  to  be  done,  in  order  that 
the  American  manufacturer  might  sustain  the  competi- 
tion, a  relative  view  of  the  respective  advantages  and 
disadvantages  was  to  be  taken.  In  this  view  the  very 
first  element  to  be  considered  was,  what  is  to  each  party 
the  cost  of  the  raw  material.  On  this,  the  whole  must 
materially  depend.  Now  when  the  law  of  1824  passed, 
the  English  manufacturer  paid  a  duty  of  sixpence  ster- 
ling on  imported  wool.  But  in  a  very  few  days  after- 
wards, this  duty  was  reduced  by  parliament,  from  six- 
pence to  a  penny.  A  reduction  of  five  pence  per 
pound,  in  the  price  of  wool,  was  estimated  in  Parlia- 
ment to  be  equal  to  a  reduction  of  twenty  six  per  cent, 
ad  valorem,  on  all  imported  wool ;  and  this  reduction, 
2 


10 


it  is  obvious,  had  its  effect  on  the  price  of  home-pro- 
duced wool  also.  Almost,  (hen,  at  the  vet]  moment, 
that  the  framers  of  the  act  of  1824,  were  raising  the 
price  of  the  raw  material  here,  as  that  act  did  raise  it, 
it  was  lowered  in  England,  by  the  very  great  reduc- 
tion of  twenty-six  per  cent.  Of  course,  this  changed  the 
whole  basis  of  the  calculation.  It  w  roughl  a  complete 
change  in  the  relative  advantages  and  disadvantages  of 
the  English  and  American  competitors  ;  and  threw  the 
preponderance  of  advantage,  most  decidedly,  on  the 
side  of  the  English.  If  the  American  manufacturer 
had  not  vastly  too  great  a  preference,  before  this  reduc- 
tion took  place,  it  is  clear  he  had  too  little  afterwards. 

J n  a  paper  which  has  been  pre  sented  to  the  Senate, 
and  often  referred  to  ;  a  paper  distinguished  for  the 
ability  and  clearness  with  which  it  enforces  general 
principles — the  Boston  Report, — it  is  clearly  proved, 
(what  indeed  is  sufficiently  obvious  from  the  mere  com- 
parison of  dates)  that  the  British  Government  did  not 
reduce  its  duty  on  wool  because  of  our  act  of  1824. 
Certainly  this  is  true  ;  but  the  effect  of  that  reduction, 
on  our  manufactures,  was  the  same  precisely  as  if  the 
British  act  had  been  designed  to  operate  against  them, 
and  for  no  other  purpose.  I  think  it  cannot  be  doubt- 
ed that  our  law  of  1324,  and  the  reduction  of  the 
wool  duty  in  England,  taken  together,  left  our  manu- 
factures in  a  w7orse  condition  than  they  were  before. 
If  there  was  any  reasonable  ground,  therefore,  for  pas- 
sing the  law  of  1824,  there  is  now  the  same  ground 
for  some  other  measure  ;  and  this  ground  too,  is  rein- 
forced by  the  consideration  of  the  hopes  excited,  the 


11 


enterprizes  undertaken,  and  the  capital  invested,  in 
consequence  of  that  law. 

So  much,  Sir,  for  this  cause  of  disappointment. 

In  the  last  place,  it  was  alleged  by  the  manufactur- 
ers, that  they  suffered  from  the  mode  of  collecting  the 
duties  on  woollen  fabrics  at  the  Custom  Houses. 
These  duties  are  ad  valorem  duties.  Such  duties, 
from  the  commencement  of  the  Government,  have 
been  estimated  by  reference  to  the  invoice,  as  fixing 
the  value  at  the  place  whence  imported.  When  not 
suspected  to  be  false  or  fraudulent,  the  Invoice  is  the 
regular  proof  of  value.  Originally  this  was  a  tolera- 
bly safe  mode  of  proceeding.  While  the  importation 
was  mainly  in  the  hands  of  American  merchants, 
the  Invoice,  would  of  course,  if  not  false  or  fraudulent, 
express  the  terms  and  the  price  of  an  actual  purchase 
and  sale.  But  an  Invoice  is  not  necessarily,  an  instru- 
ment expressing  the  sale  of  goods  and  their  prices. 
If  there  be  but  a  list,  or  catalogue,  with  prices  stated 
by  way  of  estimate,  it  is  still  an  Invoice,  and  within  the 
law.  Now  the  suggestion  is,  that  the  English  manu- 
facturer, in  making  out  an  invoice,  in  which  prices  are 
thus  stated  by  himself,  in  the  way  of  estimate  merely, 
is  able  to  obtain  an  important  advantage  over  the 
American  merchant  who  purchases  in  the  same  market, 
and  whose  Invoice  states,  consequently,  the  actual 
prices,  on  the  sale.  And  in  proof  of  this  suggestion  it 
is  alleged,  that  in  the  largest  importing  city  in  the 
Union,  a  very  great  proportion,  some  say  nearly  all,  of 
the  woollen  fabricks  are  imported  on  foreign  accounts. 
The  various  papers  which  have  come  before  us,  praying 


12 


for  a  tax  on  auction  sales,  aver  that  the  invoice  of  the 
foreign  importer  is  generally  decidedly  lower  than  that 
of  the  American  importer  ;  and  that,  in  consequence  of 
this  and  of  the  practice  of  sales  at  auction,  the  Ameri- 
can merchant  must  be  driven  out  of  the  trade.  1  can- 
not answer  for  the  entire  accuracy  of  these  statements, 
but  I  have  no  doubt  there  is  something  of  truth  in  them. 
The  main  facts  have  been  often  stated,  and  1  have 
neither  seen  nor  heard  a  denial  of  them. 

Is  it  true,  then,  that  nearly  the  whole  importation  of 
woollens  is,  in  the  largest  importing  city,  in  the  hands 
of  foreigners  ?  Is  it  true,  as  stated,  that  tin;  invoices 
of  such  foreign  importers  are,  generally,  found  to  be 
lower  than  those  of  the  American  importer?  If  these 
things  be  so,  it  will  be  admitted  that  there  is  reason  to 
believe  that  undervaluations  do  take  place  :  and  that 
some  corrective  for  the  evil  should  be  administered.  I 
am  glad  to  see  that  the  American  merchants  them- 
selves, begin  to  bestow  attention  to  a  subject,  as  inter- 
esting to  them  as  it  is  to  the  manufacturers. 

Under  this  state  of  things,  Sir,  the  law  of  the  last 
session  was  proposed.  It  was  conlined,  as  I  thought 
properly,  to  wool  and  woollens.  It  took  up  the  great 
and  leading  subject  of  complaint,  and  nothing  eke.  It 
was  urged  indeed,  against  that  Bill,  that  although  much 
had  been  said  of  frauds  at  the  Custom  House,  no  pro- 
vision was  made  in  it  for  the  prevention  of  such  frauds. 
That  is  a  mistake.  The  general  frame  of  the  Bill  was 
such,  that,  if  skilfully  drawn  and  adapted  to  its  pur- 
pose, its  tendency  to  prevent  such  frauds  would  be 
manifest.    By  the  fixing  of  prices  at  successive  points 


13 


of  graduation,  or  minimiims,  as  they  are  called,  the 
power  of  evading  duties  by  undervaluations  would  be 
most  materially  restrained.  If  these  points,  indeed, 
were  sufficiently  distant,  it  is  obvious  the  duty  would 
assume  something  of  the  certainty  and  ^  precision  of  a 
specific  duty.  But  this  Bill  failed,  and  Congress  ad- 
journed, in  March  last  year,  leaving  the  subject  where 
h  had  found  it. 

The  complaints,  which  had  given  rise  to  the  Bill, 
continued  ;  and  in  the  course  of  the  summer,  a  meet- 
in":  of  the  wool-growers  and  wool-manufacturers  as- 
sembled  in  Pennsylvania,  and  agreed  on  a  petition  to 
Congress.  I  do  not  feel  it  necessary,  on  behalf  of  the 
citizens  of  Massachusetts,  to  disclaim  a  participation  in 
that  meeting.  Persons  of  much  worth  and  respecta- 
bility attended  it  from  Massachusetts,  and  its  proceed- 
ings and  results  manifested,  I  think,  a  degree  of  tem- 
per and  moderation,  highly  creditable  to  those  who 
composed  it. 

But  while  the  Bill  of  last  year  was  confined  to  that 
which  alone  had  been  a  subject  of  complaint,  the  bill 
now  before  us  is  of  a  very  different  description.  It 
proposes  to  raise  duties  on  various  other  articles,  be- 
sides wool  and  woollens.  It  contains  some  provisions 
which  bear,  with  unnecessary  severity,  on  the  whole 
community ;  others  which  affect,  with  peculiar  hard- 
ship, particular  interests  ;  while  both  of  them  benefit 
nobody  and  nothing  but  the  Treasury.  It  contains 
provisions,  which,  with  whatever  motive  put  into  it,  it 
is  confessed  are  now  kept  in,  for  the  very  purpose  of 
destroying  the  bill  altogether  ;  or,  with  the  intent  to 


compel  those  who  expect  to  derive  benefit,  to  feel 
smart  from  it  also.  Probably  such  a  motive  of  action 
has  not  often  been  avowed. 

The  wool  manufacturers  think  they  have  made  out 
a  case,  for  the  interposition  of  Congress.  They  hap- 
pen to  live,  principally,  at  the  north  and  cast  ;  and,  in 
a  bill,  professing  to  be  for  their  relief,  other  provisions 
are  found,  which  are  supposed,  (and  supported,  becatt96 
they  are  supposed,)  to  be  such  as  will  press,  with  pe- 
culiar hardship,  on  that  quarter  of  the  country.  Sir, 
what  can  be  expected,  but  evil,  when  a  temper  like 
this  prevails  ?  How  can  such  a  hostile,  retaliatory  legis- 
lation be  reconciled  to  common  justice,  or  common 
prudence  ?  Nay,  sir,  this  rule  of  action  seems  carried 
still  farther.  Not  only  arc  clauses  found,  and  continued 
in  the  bill,  which  oppress  particular  inten  sts,  but  taxes 
are  laid,  also,  which  will  be  severely  felt  by  the  whole 
union;  and  this  too  with  the  same  design,  and  for  the 
same  end  before  mentioned,  of  causing  the  smart  of  the 
bill  to  be  felt.  Of  this  description  is  the  molasses  tax  :  a 
tax,  in  my  opinion,  absurd  and  preposterous,  in  relation 
to  any  object  of  protection  ;  needlessly  oppressive  to 
the  whole  community  ;  and  benefitting  nobody  on 
earth,  but  the  treasury.  And  yet,  here  it  is,  and  here 
it  is  kept,  under  an  idea,  conceived  in  ignorance,  and 
cherished  for  a  short  lived  triumph,  that  New-England 
will  be  deterred,  by  this  tax,  from  protecting  her  ex- 
tensive woollen  manufactures ;  or,  if  not,  that  the  au- 
thors of  this  policy  may  at  least  have  the  pleasure,  the 
high  pleasure,  of  perceiving  that  she  feels  the  effects  of 
this  bill. 


15 


Sir,  let  us  look,  for  a  moment,  at  this  tax.  The  mo- 
lasses imported  into  the  United  States  amounts  to 
thirteen  millions  annually.  Of  this  quantity,  not 
more  than  three  millions  are  distilled  ;  the  remaining 
ten  millions  being  consumed,  as  an  article  of  whole- 
some food.  The  proposed  tax  is  not  to  be  laid  for  re- 
venue. That  is  not  pretended.  It  was  not  introduced 
for  the  benefit  of  the  sugar  planters.  They  are  con- 
tented with  their  present  condition,  and  have  applied 
for  nothing.  What,  then,  was  the  object  ?  Sir,  the 
original  professed  object,  was,  to  increase,  by  this  new 
duty  on  molasses,  the  consumption  of  spirits  distilled 
from  grain.  This,  I  say,  was  the  object  originally  pro- 
fessed. But  in  this  point  of  view,  the  measure  ap- 
pears to  me  to  be  preposterous.  It  is  monstrous,  and  out 
of  all  proportion  and  relation  of  means  to  ends.  It  pro- 
poses to  double  the  duty,  on  the  ten  millions  of  gall- 
ons of  molasses,  which  are  consumed  for  food,  in  or- 
der that  it  may  likewise  double  the  duty  on  the  three 
millions  which  are  distilled  into  spirits ;  and  all  this, 
for  the  contingent  and  doubtful  purpose  of  augmenting 
the  consumption  of  spirits  distilled  from  grain.  I  say 
contingent  and  doubtful  purpose  ;  because  I  do  not 
believe  any  such  effect  will  be  produced.  I  do  not 
think  a  hundred  gallons  more  of  spirits  distilled  from 
grain  will  find  a  market  in  consequence  of  this  tax  on 
molasses.  The  debate,  here  and  elsewhere,  has  vilown 
that,  I  think  clearly.  But  suppose  some  slight  effect 
of  that  kind  should  be  produced ;  is  it  so  desirable  an 
object,  as  that  it  should  be  sought  by  such  means  ? 
Shall  we  tax  food,  to  encourage  intemperance  ?  Shall 


1G 


we  raise  the  price  of  a  wholesome  article  of  suste- 
nance, of  daily  consumption,  especially  among  the 
poorer  classes,  in  order  that  w  e  may  enjoy  a  mere 
chance  of  causing  these  same  classes  to  use  more  of 
our  home-mack  ardent  spirits? 

Sir,  the  hare  statement  of  this  question  puts  it  be- 
yond the  reach  of  all  argument  No  man  w  ill  serious- 
ly undertake  the  defence  of  such  a  tax.  It  is  better, 
much  more  candid,  certainly,  to  admit,  as  has  been  ad- 
mitted, that  obnoxious  as  it  is,  and  abominable  as  it  is, 
it  is  kfept  in  the  bill  with  a  special  view  to  its  effects  on 
New  England  votes,  and  New  England  interests. 

The  bill  also  takes  away  all  the  draw  back,  allowed 
by  existing  law  s,  on  the  exportation  of  spirits  distilled 
from  molasses  ;  and  this,  it  is  supposed,  and  truly  sup- 
posed, will  affect  New  England.  It  w  ill  considerably 
affect  her  ;  for  the  exportation  of  such  spirits  is  a  part 
of  her  trade,  and  though  not  great  in  amount,  it  is  a 
part  which  mingles  usefully,  with  the  exportation  of 
other  articles,  assists  to  make  out  variety  of  cargo,  and 
finds  a  market  in  the  North  of  Europe,  the  Mediterra- 
nean, and  in  South  America.  This  exportation  the 
bill  proposes  entirely  to  destroy. 

The  increased  duty  on  molasses,  w  hile  it  thus  need- 
lessly and  wantonly  enhances  the  price  to  the  consumer, 
may  affect  also,  in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  the  impor- 
tation of  that  article  ;  and  be  thus  injurious  to  the  com- 
merce of  the  country.  The  importation  of  molasses, 
in  exchange  for  lumber,  provisions,  and  other  articles 
of  our  own  production,  is  one  of  the  largest  portions 
of  our  West  India  trade  ;  a  trade,  it  may  be  added, 


17 


though  of  small  profit,  yet  of  short  voyages,  suited  to 
small  capitals,  employing  many  hands,  and  much 
navigation  ;  and  the  earliest  and  oldest  branch  of  our 
foreign  commerce.  That  portion  of  this  trade  which 
we  now  enjoy  is  conducted  on  the  freest  and  most  lib- 
eral principles.  The  exports  which  sustain  it  are 
from  the  East,  the  South  and  the  West ;  every 
part  of  the  country  having,  thus,  an  interest  in  its 
continuance  and  extension.  A  market  for  these  ex- 
ports, to  any  of  these  portions  of  the  country,  is  infi- 
nitely of  more  importance  to  it  than  all  the  benefit  to 
be  expected  from  the  supposed  increased  consumption 
of  spirits  distilled  from  grain. 

Yet,  sir,  this  tax  is  to  be  kept  in  the  bill,  that  New 
England  may  be  made  to  feel.    Gentlemen  who  hold 
it  to  be  wholly  unconstitutional  to  lay  any  tax,  whatev- 
er, for  the  purposes  intended  by  this  bill,  yet  cordially 
vote  for  this  tax.    An  honorable  gentleman  from  Ma- 
ryland, (Mr.  Smith)  calls  the  whole  bill  a  "  bill  of  abom- 
inations."   This  tax,  he  agrees,  is  one  of  its  abomina- 
tions, yet  he  votes  for  it.    Both  the  gentlemen  from 
North  Carolina  have  signified  their  dissatisfaction  with 
the  bill,  yet  they  have  both  voted  to  double  the  tax 
on  molasses.    Sir,  do  gentlemen  flatter  themselves  that 
this  course  of  policy  can  answer  their  purposes  ?  Do 
they  not  perceive,  that  such  a  mode  of  proceeding,  with 
a  view  to  such  avowed  objects,  must  waken  a  spirit, 
that  shall  treat  taunt  with  scorn,  and  bid  menace  defi- 
ance ?    Do  they  not  know,  if  they  do  not,  it  is  time 
they  did,  that  a  policy  like  this,  avowed  with  such  self 
satisfaction,  persisted  in  with  a  delight  which  should 


18 


only  accompany  the  discovery  of  some  new  and  won- 
derful improvement  in  legislation]  will  compel  every 
New  England  man  to  feel  that  he  is  degraded  and  de- 
based, if  he  does  not  resist  it  ? 

Sir,  Gentlemen  mistake  us.  They  greatly  mistake 
us.  To  those  who  propose  to  conduct  the  affairs  of 
Government,  and  to  enact  laws  on  such  principles 
as  these,  and  for  such  objects  as  these,  New  England, 
be  assured,  will  exhibit,  not  submission,  but  resistance  ; 
not  humiliation,  but  disdain.  Against  her,  depend  011 
it,  nothing  will  be  gained  by  intimidation.  If  you 
propose  to  suffer,  yourselves,  in  order  that  she  may  be 
made  to  suffer  also,  she  w  ill  bid  you  gome  on — she  will 
meet  challenge,  with  challenge  ;  she  will  invite  you  to 
do  your  worst,  and  your  best,  and  to  see  who  will  hold 
out  longest.  She  has  offered  you  every  one  of  her 
votes  in  the  Senate  to  strike  out  this  tax  on  molasses. 
You  have  refused  to  join  her,  and  to  strike  it  out.  With 
the  aid  of  the  votes  of  any  one  southern  state,  for  ex- 
ample of  North  Carolina,  it  could  have  been  struck  out. 
But  North  Carolina  has  refused  her  votes  for  this  pur- 
pose. She  has  voted  to  keep  the  tax  in,  and  to  keep  it 
in  at  the  highest  rate.  And  yet,  sir,  North  Carolina, 
whatever  she  may  think  of  it,  is  fully  as  much  interest- 
ed in  this  tax  as  Massachusetts.  I  think,  indeed,  she 
is  more  interested,  and  that  she  will  feel  it  more 
heavily  and  sorely.  She  is  herself  a  great  consumer 
of  the  article,  throughout  all  her  classes  of  popula- 
tion. This  increase  of  the  duty  will  levy  on  her  citi- 
zens a  new  tax  of  fifty  thousand  dollars  a  year,  or 
more  ;  although  her  Representatives  on  this  floor  have 
so  often  told  us  that  her  people  are  now  poor,  and  al- 


19 


ready  borne  down  with  taxes.  North  Carolina  will  feel 
this  tax  also  in  her  trade,  for  what  of  foreign  commerce 
has  she,  more  useful  to  her  than  the  West  India  market 
for  her  provisions  and  lumber  ?  And  yet  the  gentle- 
men from  North  Carolina  insist  on  keeping  this  tax  in 
the  bill.  Let  them  not,  then,  complain.  Let  them 
not  hereafter,  call  it  the  work  of  others.  It  is  their 
own  work.  Let  them  not  lay  it  to  the  manufacturers* 
The  manufacturers  have  had  nothing  to  do  with  it. 
Let  them  not  lay  it  to  the  wool-growers.  The  wool- 
growers  have  ,  had  nothing  to  do  with  it.  Let  them 
not  lay  it  to  New  England.  New  England  has  done 
nothing  but  to  oppose  it,  and  to  ask  them  to  oppose  it 
also.  No,  sir  ;  let  them  take  it  to  themselves.  Let 
them  enjoy  the  fruit  of  their  own  doings.  Let  them 
assign  their  motives,  for  thus  taxing  their  own  constit- 
uents, and  abide  their  judgment ;  but  do  not  let  them 
flatter  themselves  that  New  England  cannot  pay  a  mo- 
lasses tax  as  long  as  North  Carolina  chooses  that  such  a 
tax  shall  be  paid. 

Sir,  I  am  sure  there  is  nobody  here,  envious  of 
the  prosperity  of  New  England,  or  who  would  wish 
to  see  it  destroyed.  But  if  there  be  such  any  where, 
I  cannot  cheer  them  by  holding  out  the  hope  of  a 
speedy  accomplishment  of  their  wishes.  The  pros- 
perity of  New  England,  like  that  of  other  parts  of 
the  country,  may,  doubtless,  be  affected  injuriously 
by  unwise  or  unjust  laws.  It  maybe  impaired,  es- 
pecially, by  an  unsteady  and  shifting  policy,  which 
fosters  particular  objects  to-day,  and  abandons  them 
to-morrow.   She  may  advance  faster,  or  slower ;  but 


20 


the  propelling  principle,  be  assured,  is  in  her,  deep 
fixed,  and  active.    Her  course  is  onward  and  For- 
ward.   The  great  powers  of  free  labor,  of  moral 
habits,  of  general  education,  of  good  institutions,  of 
f  skill,  enterprise,  and  perseverance  arc  all  working 

wilh  her,  and  for  her  ;  and  on  the  small  surface 
which  her  population  covers,  she  is  destined,  I  think, 
to  exhibit  striking  results  of  the  operation  of  these 
potent  causes,  in  whatever  constitutes  the  happi- 
ness, or  belongs  to  the  ornament  of  human  society. 

Mr.  President,  this  tax  on  molasses  will  benefit 
the  Treasury,  though  it  will  benefit  nobody  else. 
Our  finances  will,  at  least,  be  improved  by  it.  I 
assure  the  gentlemen,  we  will  endeavor  to  use  the 
funds  thus  to  be  raised  properly  and  wisely,  and  to 
the  public  advantage.  We  have  already  passed  a 
bill  for  the  Delaware  breakwater  ;  another  is  before 
us,  for  the  improvement  of  several  of  our  harbors  ; 
the  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  canal  bill  has  been 
brought  into  the  Senate,  while  I  have  been  speak- 
ing; and  next  session  we  hope  to  bring  forward  the 
breakwater  at  Nantucket.  These  appropriations, 
sir,  will  require  pretty  ample  means  ;  it  will  be  con- 
venient to  have  a  well  supplied  Treasury,  and  I 
state  for  the  especial  consolation  of  the  Honorable 
Gentlemen  from  North  Carolina,  that  so  long  as 
they  choose  to  compel  their  constituents,  and  my 
constituents,  to  pay  a  molasses  tax,  the  proeeeds 
thereof  shall  be  appropriated,  as  far  as  I  am  con- 
cerned, to  valuable  national  objects,  in  useful  and 
necessary  works  of  internal  improvements. 


21 


Mr.  President,  in  what  I  have  now  said,  I  have 
but  followed  where  others  have  led,  and  compelled 
me  to  follow.  I  have  but  exhibited  to  gentlemen 
the  necessary  consequences  of  their  own  course  of 
proceeding.  But  this  manner  of  passing  laws  is 
wholly  against  my  own  judgment,  and  repugnant  to 
all  my  feelings.  And  I  would,  even  now,  once 
more  solicit  gentlemen  to  consider,  whether  a  dif- 
ferent course  would  not  be  more  worthy  of  the  Sen- 
ate, and  more  useful  to  the  country.  Why  should 
we  not  act  upon  this  bill,  article  by  article,  judge 
fairly  of  each,  retain  what  a  majority  approves,  and 
reject  the  rest?  If  it  be,  as  the  gentleman  from 
Maryland  called  it,  "  a  bill  of  abominations,-'  why 
not  strike  out  as  many  of  the  abominations  as  we 
can  ?  Extreme  measures  cannot  tend  to  good. 
They  must  produce  mischief.  If  a  proper  and  mo- 
derate,bill,  in  regard  to  wool  and  woollens  had  pass- 
ed last  year,  we  should  not  now  be  in  our  present 
situation.  If  such  a  bill,  extended  perhaps  to  a  few 
other  articles,  if  necessity  so  required,  had  been 
prepared  and  recommended  at  this  session,  much, 
both  of  excitement  and  of  evil,  would  have  been 
avoided. 

Nevertheless,  sir,  it  is  for  gentlemen  to  judge  for 
themselves.  If  when  the  wool  manufacturers,  think 
they  have  a  fair  right  to  call  on  Congress  to  carry 
into  effect  what  was  intended  for  them  by  the  law 
of  1824,  and  when  there  is  manifested  some  dispo- 
sition to  comply  with  what  they  thus  request,  the 


22 


benefit  cannot  be  granted,  nevertheless,  in  any  other 
manner  than  by  inserting  it  in  a  sort  of  bill  of  pains 
and  penalties — a  "  bill  of  abominations,"  it  is  not  for 
me  to  attempt  to  reason  clown,  what  lias  not  been 
reasoned  up ;  but  I  must  content  myself  with  ad- 
monishing gentlemen  that  their  policy  is  destined, 
in  all  probability,  to  terminate  in  their  own  sore  dis- 
appointment. 

I  advert  once  more,  sir,  to  the  subject  of  wool 
and  woollens,  for  the  purpose  of  showing,  that,  even 
in  respect  to  that  part  of  the  bill,  the  interest  mainly 
protected  is  not  that  of  the  manufacturers.  On  the 
contrary,  it  is  that  of  the  wool-growers.  The  wool- 
grower  is  vastly  more  benefited  than  the  manufac- 
turer. The  interest  of  the  manufacturer  is  treated 
as  secondary,  and  subordinate,  throughout  the  bill. 
Just  so  much,  and  no  more,  is  done  for  him,  as  is 
supposed  necessary  to  enable  him  to  purchase  and 
manufacture  the  wool.  The  agricultural  interest, 
the  farming  interest,  the  interest  of  the  sheep-owner, 
is  the  great  object  which  the  bill  is  calculated  to 
benefit,  and  which  it  will  benefit,  if  the  manufactu- 
rer can  be  kept  alive.  A  comparison  of  existing 
duties  with  those  proposed  on  the  wool,  and  on  the 
cloth,  will  show  how  this  part  of  the  case  stands. 

At  present,  a  duty  of  thirty  per  cent,  ad  valorem 
is  laid  on  all  wool,  costing  ten  cents  per  pound,  or 
upwards  ;  and  a  duty  of  fifteen  per  cent,  on  all  wool 
under  that  price. 

The  present  bill  proposes  a  specific  duty  of  four 


23 


cents  per  pound,  and  also  an  ad  valorem  duty  of 
fifty  per  cent  on  all  wool  of  every  description. 

The  result  of  the  combination  of  these  two  du- 
ties, is,  that  wool,  fit  for  making  good  cloths,  and 
costing  from  thirty  to  forty  cents  per  pound,  in  the 
foreign  market,  will  pay  a  duty,  at  least,  equal  to 
sixty  per  cent,  ad  valorem.  And  wool  costing  less 
than  ten  cents  in  the  foreign  market,  will  pay  a  duty, 
on  the  average,  of  a  hundred  per  cent,  ad  valorem. 

Now,  sir,  these  heavy  duties  are  laid  for  the  wool- 
grower.  They  are  designed  to  give  a  spring  to 
agriculture,  by  fostering  one  of  its  most  important 
products. 

But  let  us  see  what  is  done  for  the  manufacturer, 
in  order  to  enable  him  to  manufacture  the  raw  ma- 
terial, at  prices  so  much  enhanced. 

As  the  bill  passed  the  House  of  Representatives, 
the  advance  of  duties,  on  cloths,  is  supposed  to 
have  been  not  more  than  three  per  cent,  on  the  min- 
imum points.  Taking  the  amount  of  duty  to  be 
now  thirty  seven  per  cent,  ad  valorem,  on  cloths, 
this  bill,  as  it  came  to  us,  proposed,  if  that  suppo- 
sition be  true,  only  to  carry  it  up  to  forty.  Amend- 
ments, here  adopted,  have  enhanced  this  duty,  and 
are  understood  to  have  carried  it  up  to  a  duty  of 
forty-five,  or  perhaps  fifty  per  cent,  ad  valorem. 
Taking  it  at  the  highest,  the  duty  on  the  cloth  is 
raised  thirteen  per  cent.  ;  while  that  on  wool  is 
raised,  in  some  instances  thirty,  and  in  some  instan- 
ces cighty-Jice  per  cent. ;  that  is,  in  one  case  from 


24 


thirty  to  sixty,  and  in  the  other  from  fifteen  to  a 
hundred*  Now  the  calculation  is  said  to  be  true, 
which  supposes,  that  a  duty  of  tliirty  per  cent,  on 
the  raw  material,  enhances,  by  fifteen  per  cent,  the 
cost  of  producing  the  cloth  ;  the  raw  material  being 
estimated,  generally,  to  be  equal  to  half  the  expense 
of  the  fabric.  So  that,  while,  by  this  bill,  the  man- 
ufacturer gains  thirteen  per  cent,  on  the  cloth,  lie 
would  appear  to  lose  fifteen  per  cent,  on  the  same 
cloth,  by  the  increase  in  the  price  of  the  wool.  And 
this  not  only  would  appear  to  be  true,  but  would,  I 
suppose.be  actually  true,  were  it  not  that  the  market 
may  be  open  to  the  manufacturer,  under  this  bill, 
for  such  cloths,  as  maybe  furnished  at  prices,  inter- 
mediate between  the  graduated  prices,  established 
by  the  bill. 

For  example  ;  few  or  no  foreign  cloths,  it  is  sup- 
posed, costing  more  than  fifty  cents  a  yard,  and 
less  than  a  dollar,  will  be  imported  ;  therefore, 
American  cloths,  worth  more  than  fifty  cents,  and 
less  than  a  dollar,  will  find  a  market.  So  of  the 
intervals,  or  intermediate  spaces,  between  the  other 
statute  prices.  In  this  mode,  it  may  be  hoped, 
that  the  manufacturers  may  be  sustained,  and  ren- 
dered able  to  carry  on  the  work  of  converting  the 
raw  material,  the  agricultural  product  of  the  coun- 
try, into  an  article  necessary  and  fit  for  use.  And 
this  statement,  I  think,  sufficiently  shows,  that 
no  farther  benefit  or  advantage  is  intended  for 
them,  than  such  as  shall  barely  enable  them  to 


25 


accomplish  that  purpose  ;  and  that  the  object,  to 
which  all  others  have  been  made  to  yield,  is  the 
advantage  of  agriculture. 

And  yet,  sir,  it  is  on  occasion  of  a  bill  thus 
framed,  that  a  loud  and  ceaseless  cry  has  been 
raised  against  what  is  called  the  cupidity,  the  ava- 
rice, the  monopolizing  spirit  of  New  England 
manufacturers  !  This  is  one  of  the  main  "abomina- 
tions of  the  bill  to  remedy  which  it  is  proposed 
to  keep  in  the  other  abominations.  Under  the 
prospect  of  advantage  held  out  by  the  law  of  1824, 
men  have  ventured  their  fortunes,  and  their  means 
of  subsistence,  for  themselves  and  families,  in  wool- 
len manufactures.  They  have  ventured  investments 
in  objects  requiring  a  large  out-lay  of  capital  ;  in 
mills,  houses,  water-works  and  expensive  machine- 
ry. Events  have  occurred,  blighting  their  pros- 
pects,.  and  withering  their  hopes.  Events,  which 
have  deprived  them  of  that  degree  of  succour, 
which  the  Legislature  manifestly  intended.  They 
come  here  asking  for  relief,  against  an  unforeseen 
occurrence  ;  for  remedy  against  that,  which  Con- 
gress, if  it  had  foreseen,  would  have  prevented. 
And  they  are  told,  that  what  they  ask  is  an  abomi- 
nation !  They  say  that  an  interest  important  to 
them,  and  important  to  the  country,  and  principally^ 
called  into  existence,  by  the  Government  itself,  has 
received  a  severe  shock,  under  which  it  must  sink, 
if  the  Government  will  not,  by  reasonable  means, 
endeavor  to  preserve  what  it  has  created.  And 
4 


26 


they  are  mot  with  a  volley  of  hard  names,  a  tirade 
of  reproaches,  and  a  loud  cry  against  capitalists, 
speculators  and  Stock-jobbers  !  For  one,  I  think 
them  hardly  treated  ;  I  think,  and  from  the  begin- 
ping  have  thought,  their  claim  to  be  a  lair  one. 
With  how  much  soever  of  undue  haste,  or  even  of 
credulity,  they  may  be  thought  to  have  embarked 
in  these  pursuits,  under  the  hopes  held  out  by 
Government,  I  do  not  feel  it  to  be  just,  that  they 
should  be  abandoned  to  their  fate  on  the  first  ad- 
verse change  of  circumstances  ;  although  I  have 
always  seen,  and  now  see,  how  difficult,  perhaps,  I 
should  rather  say  how  impossible,  it  is,  fur  Con- 
gress to  act,  when  such  changes  occur,  in  a  manner 
at  once  efficient,  but  discreet ;  prompt,  but  yet 
moderate. 

For  these  general  reasons,  and  on  these  grounds, 
I  am  decidedly  in  favor  of  a  measure  which  shall 
uphold  and  support,  in  behalf  of  the  manufacturers, 
the  law  of  1824,  and  carry  its  benefits  and  advan- 
tages to  the  full  extent  intended.  And  though  I 
am  not  altogether  satisfied  with  the  particular  form 
of  these  enactments,  I  am  willing  to  take  them,  in 
the  belief  that  they  will  answer  an  essentially  im- 
portant and  necessary  purpose. 

It  is  now  my  painful  duty  to  take  notice  of  ano- 
ther part  of  the  bill,  which  I  think  in  the  highest 
degree  objectionable  and  unreasonable  ;  I  mean 
the  extraordinary  augmentation  of  the  duty  on 
hemp.  I  cannot  well  conceive  any  thing  more  un- 
wise or  ill-judged  than  this  appears  to  me  to  be. 


27 


The  duty  is  already  thirty-five  dollars  per  ton  ;  and 
the  bill  proposes  a  progressive  increase,  till  it  shall 
reach  sixty  dollars.  This  will  be  absolutely  op- 
pressive on  the  shipping  interest,  the  great  con- 
sumers of  the  article.  When  this  duty  shall  have 
reached  its  maximum,  it  will  create  an  annual 
charge  of  at  least  one  hundred  thousand  dollars, 
falling  not  on  the  aggregate  of  the  commercial  in- 
terest, but  on  the  ship  owner.  It  is  a  very  unequal 
burden.  The  navigation  of  the  country  has  already 
a  hard  struggle,  to  sustain  itself  against  foreign 
competition  ;  and  it  is  singular  enough,  that  this 
interest,  which  is  already  so  severely  tried,  which 
pays  so  much  in  duties,  on  hemp,  duck,  and  iron, 
and  which  it  is  now  proposed  to  put  under  new 
burdens,  is  the  only  interest,  which  is  subject  to  v 
direct  tax,  by  a  law  of  Congress.  The  tonnage 
duty. is  such  a  tax.  If  this  bill  should  pass  in  its 
present  form,  I  shall  think  it  my  duty,  at  the  earli- 
est suitable  opportunity,  to  bring  forward  a  bill  for 
the  repeal  of  the  tonnage  duty.  It  amounts,  I  think, 
to  a  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  dollars  a  year  ; 
and  its  removal  will  be  due,  in  all  justice,  to  the 
ship  owner,  if  he  is  to  be  made  subject  to  a  new 
taxation  on  hemp  and  iron. 

But,  objectionable  as  this  tax  is,  from  its  severe 
pressure  on  a  particular  interest,  and  that  at  pre- 
sent a  depressed  interest,  there  are  still  farther 
grounds  of  dissatisfaction  with  it.  It  is  not  calcu- 
lated to  effect  the  object  intended  by  it.  If  that 
object  be  the  increase  of  the  sale  of  the  dew  rotted 


2a. 

American  hemp,  the  increased  duty  will  have  little 
tendency  to  produce  that  result ;  because,  such 
hemp  is  BO  much  lower,  in  price,  than  imported 
hemp,  that  it  must  be  already  used  for  such  pur- 
poses as  it  is  fit  for.  It  is  said  to  be  sellii)Lr  for 
one  hundred  and  twenty  dollars  per  ton;  while  the 
imported  hemp  commands  two  hundred  and  seven- 
ty dollars.  The  proposed  duty,  therefore,  cannot 
materially  assist  the  sale  of  American  hemp  of  this 
quality  and  description. 

But  the  main  reason,  given  for  the  increase,  is 
the  encouragement  of  American  water-rotted  hemp. 
Doubtless  this  is  an  important  object;  but  I  have 
seen  nothing  to  satisfy  me  that  it  can  be  obtained, 
by  means  like  this.  At  present,  there  is  produced 
in  the  country  no  considerable  quantity  of  water- 
rotted  hemp.  It  is  problematical,  at  best,  whether 
it  can  be  produced  under  any  encouragement. 
The  hemp  may  be  grown,  doubtless,  in  various 
parts  of  the  United  States,  as  well  as  in  any  coun- 
try in  the  world  ;  but  the  process  of  preparing  it 
for  use,  by  water-rotting,  I  believe  to  be  more  diffi- 
cult and  laborious  than  is  generally  thought  among 
us.  I  incline  to  think,  that,  happily  for  us,  labor  is 
in  too  much  demand,  and  commands  too  high  pri- 
ces, to  allow  this  process  to  be  carried  on  profita- 
bly. Other  objections,  also,  beside  the  amount  of 
labor  required,  may,  perhaps,  be  found  to  exist,  in 
climate,  and  in  the  effects  liable  to  be  produced  on 
health,  in  warm  countries,  by  the  nature  of  the  pro- 
cess.   But  whether  there  be  foundation  for  these 


29 


suggestions,  or  not,  the  fact  still  is,  that  we  do  not 
produce  the  article.  It  cannot,  at  present,  be  had 
at  any  price.  To  augment  the  duty,  therefore,  on 
foreign  hemp,  can  only  have  the  effect  of  compell- 
ing the  consumer  to  pay  so  much  more  money  into 
the  Treasury.  The  proposed  increase,  then,  is 
doubly  objectionable ;  first,  because  it  creates  a 
charge,  not  to  be  borne  equally  by  the  whole  coun- 
try, but  a  new  and  heavy  charge,  to  be  borne  ex- 
clusively by  one  particular  interest ;  and,  second, 
because,  that  of  the  money  raised  by  this  charge, 
little  or  none  goes  to  accomplish  the  professed  ob- 
ject, by  aiding  the  hemp  grower ;  but  the  whole, 
or  nearly  the  whole,  falls  into  the  Treasury.  Thus 
the  effect  will  be  in  no  way  proportioned  to  the 
cause,  nor  the  advantage  obtained  by  some,  at  all 
equal  to  the  hardship  imposed  on  others.  While 
one  interest  will  surfer  much,  the  other  interest  will 
gain  little  or  nothing. 

I  am  quite  willing  to  make  a  thorough  and  fair 
experiment,  on  the  subject  of  water-rotted  hemp  ; 
but  I  wish,  at  the  same  time,  to  do  this  in  a  manner 
that  shall  not  oppress  individuals,  or  particular 
classes.  I  intend,  therefore,  to  move  an  amend- 
ment, which  will  consist  in  striking  out  so  much  of 
the  present  bill  as  raises  the  duty  on  hemp,  higher 
than  it  is  at  present,  and  in  inserting  a  clause, 
making  it  the  duty  of  the  Navy  Department  to  pur- 
chase, for  the  public  service,  American  water-rot- 
ted hemp,  whenever  it  can  be  had,  of  a  suitable 
quality  ;  provided  it  can  be  purchased  at  a  rate  not 


30 


exceeding,  by  more  than  twenty  per  cent,  the  cur- 
rent price  of  imported  hemp,  of  the  same  quality. 
If  this  amendment  should  be  adopted,  the  ship 
owner  would  have  no  reason  to  complain,  as  the 
price  of  the  article  would  not  be  enhanced,  to  him  : 
and  at  the  same  time,  the  hemp  grower,  who  shall 
try  the  experiment,  will  be  made  sure  of  a  certain 
market,  and  a  high  price.  The  existing  duty  of 
thirty-five  dollars  per  ton  will  remain  to  be  still 
borne  by  the  ship-owner.  The  twenty  per  cent, 
advance,  on  the  price  of  imported  hemp  will  be 
equal  to  fifty  dollars  per  ton  ;  the  aggregate  will  be 
eighty-five  dollars;  and  this,  it  must  be  admitted, 
is  a  liberal  and  effective  provision,  and  will  secure 
everything  which  can  be  reasonably  desired,  by  the 
hemp-grower,  in  the  most  ample  manner. 

But,  if  the  bill  should  become  a  law,  and  go  into 
operation  in  its  present  shape,  this  duty  on  hemp  is 
likely  to  defeat  its  own  object  in  another  way. 
Very  intelligent  persons  entertain  the  opinion,  that 
the  consequence  of  this  high  duty  will  be  such,  that 
American  vessels,  engaged  in  foreign  commerce, 
will,  to  a  great  extent,  supply  themselves  with  cor- 
dage abroad.  This,  of  course,  will  diminish  the 
consumption  at  home,  and  thus  injure  the  hemp- 
grower,  and  at  the  same  time,  the  manufacturer  of 
cordage.  Again  ;  there  may  be  reason  to  fear,  that 
as  the  duty  is  not  raised  on  cordage  manufactured 
abroad,  such  cordage  may  be  imported,  in  greater 
or  less  degree,  in  the  place  of  the  unmanufactured 
article.    Whatever  view  we  take,  therefore,  of  this 


31 


hemp  duty,  it  appears  to  me  altogether  objection- 
able. 

Much  has  been  said  of  the  protection  which  the 
navigation  of  the  country  has  received,  from  the 
discriminating  duties  on  tonnage,  and  the  exclusive 
enjoyment  of  the  coasting  trade.  In  my  opinion, 
neither  of  these  measures  has  materially  sustained 
the  shipping  interest  of  the  United  States.  I  do 
not  concur  in  the  sentiments,  on  that  point,  quoted 
from  Dr.  Seybert's  statistical  work.  Dr.  Seybert 
was  an  intelligent  and  worthy  man,  and  compiled 
a  valuable  book  ;  but  he  was  engaged  in  public 
life  at  a  time,  when  it  was  more  fashionable  than  it 
has  since  become,  to  ascribe  efficacy  to  discrimi- 
nating duties.  The  shipping  interest  in  this  coun- 
try has  made  its  way  by  its  own  enterprise.  By  its 
own  vigorous  exertion,  it  spread  itself  over  the 
seas,..and  by  the  same  exertion,  it  still  holds  its 
place  there.  It  seems  idle  to  talk  of  the  benefit 
and  advantage  of  discriminating  duties,  when  they 
operate  against  us,  on  one  side  of  the  ocean,  quite 
as  much  as  they  operate  for  us  on  the  other.  To 
suppose  that  two  nations,  having  intercourse  with 
each  other,  can  secure,  each  to  itself,  a  decided  ad- 
vantage in  that  intercourse,  is  little  less  than  absur- 
dity ;  and  this  is  the  absurdity  of  discriminating  du- 
ties. Still  less  reason  is  there  for  the  idea,  that  our 
own  ship-owners  hold  the  exclusive  enjoyment  of 
the  coasting  trade,  only  by  virtue  of  the  law,  which 
secures  it  to  their  exclusive  employment.  Look  at 
the  rate  of  freights.    Look  at  the  manner  in  which 


32 


this  coasting  trade  is  conducted,  by  our  own  vessels, 
and  the  competition  which  subsists  between  them. 
In  a  majority  of  instances,  probably,  these  vessels 
are  owned,  in  whole  or  in  part,  by  those  who  navi- 
gate them.  These  owners  are  at  home,  at  one 
end  of  the  voyage  ;  and  repairs  and  supplies  are 
thus  obtained  in  the  cheapest  and  most  economical 
manner.  No  foreign  vessels  would  be  able  to  par- 
lake  in  this  trade,  even  by  the  aid  of  preferences 
and  bounties. 

The  shipping  interest  of  this  country  requires  only 
an  open  field,  and  a  fair  chance.  Every  thing  else 
it  will  do  for  itself.  But,  it  has  not  a  lair  chance, 
while  it  is  so  severely  taxed,  in  whatever  enters  into 
the  necessary  expense  of  building  and  equipment. 
In  this  respect,  its  rivals  have  advantages  which  may 
in  the  end,  prove  to  be  decisive  against  us.  I  en- 
treat the  Senate  to  examine  and  weigh  this  subject, 
and  not  go  on,  blindly,  to  unknown  consequences. 
The  English  ship-owner  is  carefully  regarded  by 
his  government,  and  aided  and  succoured,  when- 
ever and  wherever  necessary,  by  a  sharp-sighted 
policy.  Both  he  and  the  American  ship-owner  ob- 
tain their  hemp  from  Russia.  But  observe  the  dif- 
ference. The  duty  on  hemp  in  England  is  but 
twenty-one  dollars;  here,  it  is  proposed  to  make  it 
sixty  ;  notwithstanding  its  cost  here  is  necessarily 
enhanced  by  an  additional  freight,  proportioned  to 
a  voyage,  longer  than  that  which  brings  it  to  the 
English  consumer,  by  the  whole  breadth  of  the  At- 
lantic. Sir,  I  wish  to  invoke  the  Senate's  attention, 
earnestly,  to  this  subject;  I  would  awaken  the  re- 
gard of  the  whole  government,  more  and  more,  not 
only  on  this  but  on  all  occasions,  to  this  great  na- 
tional interest  ;  an  interest,  which  lies  at  the  very 
foundation,  both  of  our  commercial  prosperity  and 
our  naval  achievement. 


